Machine for marking articles



Nov. 4, 1952 c. BUSTAMANTE MACHINE FOR MARKING ARTICLES 2 SHEETS SHEET 1 Filed Jan. 25, 1950 INVENTOR.

Cam/- lax/402072? f maw' ATTORNEYS O 4, 1952 c. BUSTAMANTE 2,616,362

MACHINE FOR MARKING ARTICLES Filed Jan. 25, 1950 2 $HEETSSHEET 2 FIG. 3 e7 Patented Nov. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 2,616,362 MACHINE FOR MARKING ARTICLES Cesar Bustamante, New York, N. Y.

Application January 25, 1950, Serial No. 140,445

7 Claims.

This invention relates to the marking of articles. It is customary to apply tradenames, size indicia, designs, and other devices, etc. to articles such as hosiery, hats, gloves, underwear, and other articles of clothing by the transfer process. These transfers consist of impressions of the desired marking made on a carrier of sheet material with a suitable transfer material or marking composition. They are transferred to the article to be marked by placing the carrier sheet on the article and applying heat and pressure.

It is customary to supply these transfers applied in spaced relation along a paper web of indeterminate length, the transfers thus prepared being an article of commerce and being sold to the clothing manufacturer at an established price per thousand transfers. In using such transfers the clothing manufacturer customarily places the web upon the surface to be marked and applies a heated iron by hand to the upper surface of the web. This causes the marking composition of the transfer, which is on the lower surface of the web, to be transferred to the article.

To overcome the disadvantage of hand application of the transfers, various attempts have been made to apply them by machine. Thus, for example, it has been suggested to feed the strip in such a manner as to bring successive transfers into registry with the surface of a reciprocating heated plunger with the aid of electronic means or the so-called electric eye. Such machines have the disadvantage of relatively high first cost as well as high maintenance or service cost. In another attempt to automatically feed successive transfers into registry with the applying plunger, use has been made of the difference in thickness between the paper web and the increased thickness of the web in the area of each transfer. This has proved unreliable, however, because of variation of the thickness of the web itself between successive transfers.

The present invention aims to overcome these and other difficulties in the marking of articles, and to provide a machine which can be manufactured at reasonable cost and which in a simple and reliable manner automatically feeds transfers or impressions into accurate registry beneath the applying plunger. In this specification the terms transfer and impression are used interchangeably, and, in connection with the present invention either the entire transfer or impression may be transferred to the article to be marked, or only a portion of such transfer or impression. r

Another object of the invention is to provide an article marking machine in which the plunger may have a sufliciently long stroke to accommodate a quantity of flat articles, such as a stack of hosiery, or an article such as a hat.

Another object of the invention is to provide an article marking machine of this kind wherein the motion of the plunger does not interfere with the registry of the transfer or impression with the plunger head, sothat the plunger may have a long stroke, as above mentioned, but the transfer will be placed in registry with the plunger regardless of the length of its stroke, that is, the point in its downward stroke where it engages the transfer Web and presses it into contact with the work.

In accordance with the invention a carrier web of suitable transfer supporting material is advanced with intermittent motion and in steps of predetermined equal length from a printing device, such as a pair of intaglio printing rolls, from which the web receives the transfer, or impression, of .transfer material, to an applying mechanism, for example, beneath a vertically reciprocable heated transfer plunger which presses the web against the article to be marked. An impression is made on the web for each feed step of the web, and an applying stroke of the plunger occurs for each feed step. Also, the distance along the web between theprinting device and the transfer plunger is a. multiple of the length ofsuch feed step. Consequently, the transfers on the web are fed successively and automatically into accurate register with the transfer plunger.

The invention will be better, understood from a consideration of the accompanying drawings which, by way of example, illustrate one embodiment thereof together with modifications of certain details. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view of the machine principally in side elevation, but partly in section as indicated by line I-l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 1a shows a modified form of plunger head.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation looking from the left of Fig. 1 and with the operating clutch shown in vertical section;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the transfer printing roll;

Fig. 5a shows a modified form of printing roll.

Fig. 6 shows a fragment of transfer web with three transfers printed thereon;

Fig. 6a shows a fragment of web printed by the roll of Fig. a.

Fig. 7 is a detail section taken on line 'I'I of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a similar section taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 9 is a similar section taken on line 99 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to these drawings, the machine has a frame I having a horizontally projecting arm 2 on which rests a resilient pad 3 to support the work 4, which, for example, may be a stack of hosiery to be marked. The upper portion of frame I supports in a manner to be described a vertically reciprocating transfer ap-.

plying plunger structure, indicated generallyby numeral 5, having at its lower end a suitable head 6 with a smooth fiat lower surface adapted to press the transfer web into contact with the work. Plunger head 6 is provided with suitable heating means, such as the electric heater 1 to maintain the head at the appropriate tempera- ;ture to soften the marking composition of the transfer.

Plunger structure 5 comprises the head 6, a

vertical rod 8 and a sliding block 9. This struc- Sliding block 9 of the plunger structure is fixed to the upper end of plunger rod 8 by any suitable means, such as the screw I4, and is provided with two spaced apertures to receive stationary bars ID and thereby slide on these rods to guide the upper end of plunger rod 8. The

lower end of rod 8 is slidably guided in a central aperture in stationary block I2.

The operating mechanism for imparting vertical reciprocating movement to the transfer applying plunger 5 comprises a crank pin I5 mounted on the rear face of a gear I6 which turns on a stub shaft fixed to frame I. A connecting rod I'I joins crank pin I5 with the rear end of a double armed lever I8 which is pivoted to frame I at I9. is connected by means of a link to sliding block 9. Crank gear I6 is rotated by engagement with the teeth of a driving gear ZI which is fixed to a shaft 22 which has a bearing in frame I and projects through said frame to the right as viewed in Fig. 2.

Power is applied to drive the machine through a continuously rotating pulley (or gear) 23 which is keyed to the hub of a driving member 24 of a roller clutch, these two parts turning loosely on the projecting end of shaft 22 and being held thereon by collar 25. The roller clutch is of usual construction and includes a driven member 26 fixed to shaft 22 and driven from member 24 by means of a series of rollers, one of which is shown at 21. These rollers each have a biasing spring, such as spring 28, which urges the roller into wedging engagement between the internal flange of driving member 24 and the usual slopin surfaces (not shown) which are provided on driven member 26. r The clutch is provided with a control disc 29 having a series of pins. projecting from itsinner surface, one to engage each of the rollers 21,

one of these pins being shown at 30. Control The forward end of lever I8 disc 29 is provided with a single shoulder 3| arranged to be engaged by a pivoted latch bar 32 which is biased upwardly by a tension spring 33 and moved downwardly by a foot pedal (not shown) connected to latch bar 32 by means of a link 34.

When the operator depresses the pedal, thus releasing the latch bar from shoulder 3|, the restraining action of pins 30 on rollers 21 is removed and these rollers are shifted outwardly by spring 28, control disc 29 rotating slightly relative to shaft 22. The outward movement of the rollers causes the engagement of the clutch and shaft 22 commences to rotate. Rotation will continue as long as latch bar 32 is held out of engagement with shoulder 3Iso that transfer applying plunger 5 may be continuously reciprocated as long as desired, or if the control pedal is released promptly after actuation, latch bar 32 will reengage shoulder 3I after only a single revolution of shaft 22 and a single operation of the transfer applying plunger.

The web of transfer paper is indicated by numeral 35 and the supply of this web is afforded by a magazine reel 36 at the right of the machine as viewed in Fig. 1. Web 35on leaving this reel passes around a take-01f roller 3! on the end of a pivoted arm which is biased downwardly by means of. a weight 38 so that intermittent feeding of the web may occur without requiring the acceleration of reel 36 at each step movement. After leaving roller 31, web 35 passes beneath a guide roller 39 and around a stop roller 46, thence through the printing mechanism which includes a lower or printing roll M and an upper or pressure roll 42.

Passing around roll 42 the web continues toward the left around a guide roller 43, thence downwardly to a fixed, but adjustably mounted. roller 44, and thence upwardly around a vertically shiftable roller 45 and downwardly across the bottom of the heated plunger head 6. Web 35 then turns upwardly again around a second vertically shiftable roller 46 and a second fixed roller 41, mounted at approximately the same level as roller 44, and thence the web is trained around a guide roller 43 from which it passes onto a take-up roller 49.

A principal feeding force is applied to the web by means of take-up roller 49 which is driven continuously in the counterclockwise direction by means of a belt 50 which is trained around a pulley 5| pinned to operating shaft 52 for the take-up roll. Belt 56 is crossed to give the correct rotation and is driven from a pulley which is fixed upon the shaft 22. The arrangement is such that continuously throughout a cycle of operation of the machine initiated by the depressing latch bar 32, take-up roll 49 is subjected to a turning force by belt 56, but the driving connection between belt 5|] and pulley 5I is of a yielding nature, so that web'35 can be stopped to provide the intermittent feed of the web in a manner to be described, and when Web 35 is stationary belt 50 slips on pulley 5|.

The printing roll 4| is fixed on a shart 53 which extends between the opposite side walls of a receptacle 54 for holding the marking composition, the level of this composition being indicated at 55. Roller 4| forms'the left end wall of receptacle 54 and the bottom of this receptacle is formed by a doctor blade 56 which is fixed at its right end to the bottom member '51 of the receptacle, its left end being adjustable in relation to the surface of roller 4I by means 3521s: eentmlleda' means. or: e; cam; W5 3i of agknunedlsrrem ihi. An ele t icehe vice-.1591 isrprovidediin pmh m silnreierahlyz rransedrw .aintainrthe temperature-- ir hee. 0111: within. theedesiu-reddimi sv Brintine: olls. 4|; s i he;

xamn t. th le end 4 S ze hown in h s 5'; Itwill b.e;- under stood; that; as roll 1 44 rotates and thet-ensrav dipp tio nassesthreush e marking mposition: with rece t cle; & nd

web: 3.5; to: form; the transferor; marking. This transfer-14s thus mounted on the; outeror; upper side of webaszitypasses:aroundroll 42; and over rolls '13 and. 4.5;, but? the.- transfer; isom the inner, side? and, therefore; contact. with roll as Gonsequently, a marking .-compos ition is employed which can be maintainedimthemolten state;- Withih. the receptacle 5.4 and which is adapted to; pass from the molten-.statwtmthe solidstate durin a comparatively; short period of, timesoltha-t' the-composition will have solidlfied by the time-it reaohes1roller 45, It will be understood that. artiflcial coolingmeans; may be.emp10yBdxt0-aCQe1emt this hlidiflcat on if desired.

Printing roll 4| isamtaed by means-ofeachain MEW-hieh is'tralned, aroundZ atsproeketon shaft 53: and also around- 3;: driving; sprocket ofe the same dia t a d. keye o hc a insssh ft -2 that h printing: 11: makes: one: revolutio for each; revolution of the operating shaft;

Pressure roll 42 is arranged to turn freelyon a, shaft 6|. which; is-mountedibetween a pair; of short arms 6-2; which are pinnedm: rocle shafi 63 (Fig. 1) sothat. by movement: of: this; shaft pressureroll 42 canberaised orlowered to carry web: 3. 3 out of; or into; engagement with; printing rollrM in; order: to.- controlthe; step; feeding of 1 the:web=. lntegxally with. arms 62 and extend int in: the PDOSi Qa d re t n? ra 63; areTtWQ additional: arms filr-han g brake member: B5 mounted between; them; at themends. This-member; m y he he brm of arubber; roller which is; preferably: fixed againstrotation. When; by'the rockingofish-aft 63-. pressure roll 4-2 is raised outof-= engagement with printing. roll. M brake member B5; is simultaneously brought into engagement with web 3.5. as: itpasses around guide roll 40; and. serves to positively stop the. advance of web 35, whieh tends to continueits movement undenthe feeding action of take-up roll; 49;

The driving-belt; 50: for roll 49 commences to slip on pulley 5| at thls-noint; bl1,t;at-the= instant brake member 65 isv raised ashtray.- from, the web the feeding movement of the; web is resumed, thus contributing, to. accurate spacin of the transfers on the web. Althoughroll; 41. serves as th prin in 'roll, it isreally c mb ne Pr ing and: feed roll, and serves; to supplement the action of take-up roll 49. in adyancing. the: web. This intermittent: feedihezimeveme Qfi; web

611 33 21. .1 end of shaft 53 as 1;; gatedin E-ig 3.

l'k it li k in "PZFHQQ8J T911; nt. he. ransfers n. we is m h Ei v e t e; de ice; Size-@ 13 Th h 9h onto 661- mounted oppositethe trans r e-n graying; oninnin in oll; at s. 1112 he; P. posits: i f s t; fom h s n ra i 1 the; position of; the: parts; shpwn; r, I i printin oi he; markin q h ouhd 9% he to: f rm; the: ran er is J s bein hh h As rotat sa urthe d loy s le mention. o he; cam... t: hish .e ee ns. iw b i sr shm i his: he r ns e p int n me han m op rates to; imprint. transfers on the web in equally spaced -relation asshown; in Fig. G' their s acin :beinssuus e heoi c m e encetp ing ro1l 41-; Transfers-previously applied to: the weh n ere n hca e v h e ter w mus 41 1 h s. lr e c e n osi ioned sub tant ly-at h eht h t ehe d; 610 rans..- er epn y -ne lung s and, e uen y, sqitiqn; qbe p ique he hs he ran f r Q messiah ap yin luhs e s; ope a i es: ess si edz w th web. ui in hills .4,. 4. .6., and -41 hsi' h: a} as hat; he. dow war ms ien. Q he Plung r 1.9. 29 displ ce. e he; uc es veansi s rom e heed; t-ma n a n k he tr hsf a his.-11 $i Q -.d r he h owh r sth he- Thi a com li h d b moun the two; e ov ble guiding; rolls 45.. and 4.6- in such a, way? that; they Y mo dewnw et w h l i e-h lt thettrave m n ne tnhihitnai i dewhw 1 3: rom sl di sb o k 9 a tw some? whatsirnilar ra'ol bars, 1 2I and 1.3. that these two racks: m. e downwardly with. transfer applying plunger-.5, Rollersfiiand. 4.6 aremountedto turn freelylonstuh. shafts 14 and 1.5, respectively these shafts being fixed respectively and extending horizontally from two supporting blocks L6; and 11-, Support g ck .6 an 11 ash, have a pair o f; enlargements 18,, one ab ve and one;v below a central; recess in which is mounted a gear 1 9 w ich. m y m de t a w h n. ehsioh of the respective rollers 4,5;and-46.

Enlargements 18 have recesses as shown inFlgs. 7 and; 8 forming shoulders. bearing; aga i-nst the side edges ofthe associated rack bars. Thus, supporting block 16 is slidahly guided by the two an, ba "t and 1- a d la k. 1 is's, r ilarly .7 :move downwardly with plunger 5, these two gears 19 will rotate and carry their respective blocks '16 and H (and rolls 45 and 4B) downward by onehalf of the travel of plunger 5. r

1 By making roller 44 adjustable on rack bar 10, the effective length of web 35 between the point of printing the transfer upon it and the center of the heated head 6 of the transfer plunger can be adjusted so as to center a transfer on head 6 at the-end of each feed step. Itwill be under.- stood that this effective web length is a multiple of the length of a single feed step. In order to mount roller'44-in an adjustable position onthe back of-ra'ck bar'10;-theshaft on which roller '44 turns is--'fixedto the upper end portion of a -sliding block 80. This block-isflanged along each side to enable "it to be guided by the rackbar. Block 80 is also slotted as shown at 8| to receive a thumb screw 82, the inner end of which is tapped into an aperture in the rear face of rack bar-1U.

The maximum height of the work is, such, for example-as a stack of hosiery depends upon the angular length of the high portion of cam 66, and in Fig. 1 the line 83 indicates the height of the bottom of plunger head 6 above pad 3 when the cam follower roller 61 passes onto or off of the projection or high portion of cam 66.

In operating the machine, the operator folds back, or removes, the uppermost article of the stack 4 after it has been marked, thereby exposing the article below. Hence, the height of the stackcontinually decreases and accordingly the length of the stroke of-plunger 5 increases, the automatic registration of a transfer on the center of plunger head-6 continuing regardless ofthis change in length of stroke. It will be understood, however; that it is not necessary for a transfer or impression 'to be advanced into registry with plunger 6 before the downward stroke of the plunger commences; ordinarily, the transfer will be fed forward to registering position with respect to the plunger just prior to the plunger head reaching line 83 on its downward stroke, so that the transfer will be ready to 'be'placed in the correctposition on the work. Assuming that the top of the stack is below the maximum height line 83 and that plunger head 6 has just left the bottom of its stroke, it continues upward, and until it reaches line 83 web 35 is held stationary. At this point, follower roller 61 rollsoff of the high portion of cam' 68 and a step feed of'the web commences. This feeding movement continues while the plunger head 6 proceeds upward to the top of its stroke and then again descends to line 83. At this point, roller 61 again passes onto the high portion of cam 6-6, thus stopping the step advance of the web, the succeeding transfer having been moved into registry with' plunger head 6 ready to be applied to the next article of the stack.

The motion of plunger head 6 above maximum height line 83 of the work affords time for the operator to fold back, or feed a new article into position beneath the plunger; also this motion enables large articles, for example, as hats to be placed under the plunger.

In the modified form of transfer printing roll 4 I or shown in Fig. 511, instead of engraving the roll in the exact outline of the transfer or impression to be applied to the goods, this roll is engraved overan area 84 which is somewhat larger than the overall dimensions of the marking, whichis to be applied to the article. This results in printing or applying corresponding areas onweb 35a B in the sa e spiajced relation as the markings on web 35 as shown in Fig. 6. The engraving of the area 84 on thesurface of printing roll 4la is preferably in the form of two series of diagonal lines, the lines of each series being parallel with each other" and 'a't'an angle to the lines of the other series, after'the manner of the engraving of an intag'lio'printing roll for producing newspaper cuts. This'results in the areas 85 on the web being printed notwith a continuous coating of the marking composition but in a series of fine uniform "dots of such material.

In utilizing this form of transfer or impression, the lower surface of the heated head 6a of the transfer plunger structure 5 (Fig. 1a) is provided with suitable type 86 whichprojects below the bettom surface of this head. This type may, for example, be arranged to form the same size indicia, namely Size 2 as was described in connection with the preferred form of the apparatus. Hence, when this type presses the transfer web 35a and one of the transfer or impression areas 85 into engagement with an article to be marked, thatiportion of the transfer material of area 85 will be transferred to thearticle, leaving the remainder of the transfer material on the web. Otherwise, the operation of the apparatus with this modifiedform of printing roll is exactly as described above.

By means of the present'apparatus, the transfers or impressions are fed automatically into registry with the transfer applying plunger by means of a simple and inexpensive mechanism not involving complications or requiring high maintenance cost. Also, the automatic registry of the transfers and the plunger head, is independent of the length of the plunger stroke, within t-he range of the apparatus.

It will be understood that other changes in the construction and arrangement of th apparatus thanthe modification described herein, may be madewithout exceeding the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for marking articles comprising a reciprocating plunger for transferring transfer material from a web onto the article to to be marked, feeding mechanism for feeding said web beneath said plunger, said mechanism operating to advance the Web with intermittent motion and in steps of predetermined equal length, transfer material printing mechanism operatingt'o produce an impression of such mate- 'rialjon said web in advance of said plunger,and mechanism for actuating said printing mechanism and for moving said plunger to transferring position at each feed step of said web, the distance along said web between the point of production of the impressions thereon and the center of said reciprocating plunger being a multiple of the length of a single feed step of said web, whereby successive impressions on said web are automatically advanced into registry with said plunger for each transfer stroke thereof.

2. A machine for marking articles as set forth in claim 1 in which the feed and printing mechanisms are actuated alternately with the movement of the plunger.

3. A machine for marking articles as set forth in claim 1 in which the transfer material printing -mechanism comprises a printing roll.

4. A machine for marking articles as set forth in claim li'n which-the web feeding mechanism includes four web guiding rollers associated with the transfer plunger, a stationary roller and a movable roller being arranged on each side of the plunger, the web passing first around one of said stationary rollers, thence around the first movable roller, thence across the plunger face, thence around the second movable roller to the second stationary roller, and said movable rollers being actuated by said plunger and having onehalf the travel of said plunger, whereby the movement of the plunger does not interfere with the registry with the plunger of the successive impressions carried by the Web.

5. A machine for marking articles comprising a reciprocating plunger for transferring transfer material from a web onto the article to be marked, feeding mechanism for advancing said web beneath said plunger in a step-by-step movement with alternate periods of motion and dwell, a rotary printing mechanism for producing on said web in advance of said plunger successive impressions of transfer material, means for operating said printing mechanism during each period of motion of said web, and mechanism for actuating said plunger during each dwell period of said web.

6. A machine for marking articles as set forth 4 in claim 5 wherein the web is advanced by the feeding mechanism in steps of predetermined equal length, and the apparatus is constructed and arranged so that the distance along the web between the point of production of the impressions thereon and the center of the reciprocating plunger is a multiple of the length of a single feed step by which successive impressions on the web are automatically brought into registry with the plunger.

7. A machine for marking articles as set forth in claim 6 in which the web feeding mechanism includes four web guiding rollers associated with the transfer plunger, a stationary roller and a movable roller being arranged on each side of the plunger, the web passing first around one of said stationary rollers, thence around the first movable roller, thence across the plunger face, thence around the second movable roller to the second stationary roller, and said movable rollers being actuated by said plunger and having onehalf the travel of said plunger, whereby the movement of the plunger does not interfere with the registry with the plunger of the successive impressions carried by the Web.

CESAR BUSTAMANTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 564,626 Kramer July 28, 1896 750,255 Calberla Jan. 26, 1904 1,989,375 Meyercord Jan. 25, 1935 2,052,247 Roberts Aug. 25, 1936 2,280,943 Ferm Apr. 28, 1942 2,321,057 Weiss June 8, 1943 

